


Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style

by mainstreamelectricalparade



Series: Hardest Lessons (Softest Results) [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Baby Peter Parker, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Kid Peter Parker, Medical Inaccuracies, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, how else could i possibly tag this i've always been really bad at this part, i could probably mark it as g for that but it's better to be safe than sorry, no knowledge of how hospitals work i'm very sorry, ok listen there's language in this bc it's marvel but i don't swear so it's pretty tame, that's a seriously weird tag it's like "um duh", this wasn't beta'd just so you know i edited it myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mainstreamelectricalparade/pseuds/mainstreamelectricalparade
Summary: “Sorry, sir, but Miss Potts has been trying to reach you for fifteen minutes and overrode my Do Not Disturb setting,” JARVIS replied, at least managing to sound a little sheepish thanks to Tony's flawless programming.“You're lucky I don't have time for a lecture,” Pepper said sternly. “I need you to come to my office right now, there's a bit of a situation.”“Didn't I hire you to deal with those so I don't have to?”“Not this one,” Pepper said. “There is absolutely nothing about this that you can pass off on me. Mary Fitzpatrick from our research department in New York is outside. She says she needs to talk to you.”That didn't sound like something Tony couldn't pass off. “And?”“She's pregnant.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration from http://mamalaz.tumblr.com/post/179559139757  
> This chapter takes inspiration from the gif that goes:
> 
> Pepper: Tony, there's a pregnant woman named Mary Fitzpatrick downstairs.  
> Tony: Did you say Mary?
> 
> This fic is set in the year 2001!

It was a normal day in the lab for Tony.

And, yes, ok, that meant he was hiding, kind of in plain sight since he was in the lab at work, from anybody who had something to put on his schedule: his lovely PA, Pepper, his partner and mentor, Obie, his best friend, Rhodey (Rhodes if you want to be professional, but Tony rarely did), or just about anybody else with an agenda and/or a need for mass-produced, top-of-the-line tech. Usually weapons. It was sort of the company's specialty.

Tony's lab time was something he considered to be very sacred. He blasted music as loud as he could stand it, set his AI, JARVIS, to screen and block any disruptions, and worked almost tirelessly, at least until he had been awake long enough that he started seeing double or thought that 2+2 was 13.

So when JARVIS turned his music off he was a little miffed.

“JARVIS, honey, what have I said about turning my music off-”

“Sorry, sir, but Miss Potts has been trying to reach you for fifteen minutes and overrode my Do Not Disturb setting,” JARVIS replied, at least managing to sound a little sheepish thanks to Tony's flawless programming.

Tony sighed and set aside his tools, stepping away from his half-finished project. “All right, fine. Patch her through.”

“ _Tony_ ,” Pepper's exasperated voice said through the speaker.

“Miss Potts,” Tony said with his best “I am completely innocent” voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“ _You're lucky I don't have time for a lecture,_ ” Pepper said sternly. “ _I need you to come to my office right now, there's a bit of a situation_.”

“Didn't I hire you to deal with those so I don't have to?”

“ _Not this one,_ ” Pepper said. “ _There is absolutely nothing about this that you can pass off on me_.”

_Uhhh ohhh_ , Tony's brain thought helpfully.

“Um, why?”

“ _Because_ ,” Pepper said, starting to sound impatient, “ _Mary Fitzpatrick from our research department in New York is outside. She says she needs to talk to you_.”

That didn't sound like something Tony couldn't pass off. “And?”

“ _She's pregnant_.”

Tony blanched. “Uh, I don't- wait. You said _Mary_? From _New York_?”

“ _Yes, Tony, Mary Fitzpatrick. New York R &D._”

“Pregnant,” Tony repeated, his voice lowering to a whisper.

“ _Four months_.”

Four months... New York... Mary...

_Stark Industries holiday party_.

“Oh, no,” Tony groaned out loud.

“ _What?_ ” Pepper sounded suspicious. “ _Wait. Maybe you shouldn't tell me_.”

Tony swallowed; his mouth suddenly felt drier than the worst cotton mouth he'd ever had.

“Let her in, I'll be right down.”

\---

Tony all but ran to Pepper's office. When he got there, he flung the door open to see a woman in one of the chairs in front of Pepper's desk, her back to him. At the sound of the door, she turned to face him, looking a lot more embarrassed than most of the women who claimed they were having his baby.

“Mr. Stark,” Mary said, moving to stand in greeting, but as soon as Tony caught a glimpse of the small bump protruding subtly over the top of her professional skirt, he gestured quickly for her to sit back down.

Tony cleared his throat nervously. “Miss, uh, Fitzpatrick.”

“Mary,” she corrected, her face a little pink. “Please.”

“Mary,” Tony repeated.

Pepper stood up. “Have a seat, Tony. I believe you two have some talking to do.”

Tony sat in the other chair facing Pepper, feeling less like a businessman and more like a child in the principal's office.

Mary took a deep breath. “Before you suggest I'm lying, I just want to say that there's no way this baby isn't yours, Mr. Stark,” she said. “I've been seeing someone for over a year, but in the time frame of, um, conception, we were on a three-month break. You were the only, um. You know.”

Pepper stared at Tony with a look on her face that seemed to scream “this is all your fault”.

She was probably technically right.

Not about Mary and her boyfriend being on a break, obviously, but. The other stuff.

Tony cleared his throat again. “Right, so, what do you want? Money? An apology?”

Mary shook her head slowly. “I want you to consider something. Don't make a decision right here and now, really _consider_ it. I'm sure this isn't on your agenda, probably never would have been, but Richard and I are in a tight place right now, we want to get married but I'm not so sure a baby is the best thing for us at this time, and it isn't even his, and that's putting a huge strain on our relationship not only with each other, but with our families-”

Tony thought he had a pretty good guess as to where this was going.

“-and you pay well, you really do, but we don't really have the money to raise a child, not to mention we don't really have time, and-” Mary stopped herself. “I'm so sorry, I'm rambling. Um... I was hoping... you might consider... keeping the baby yourself?”

Tony and Pepper were both rendered speechless, and Mary backtracked rapidly.

“I mean, honestly, I'm only asking you to think about it, I'm not trying to force you, if you say no I'll just have to put the baby in the system when they're born, and I don't really want to do that, I want them to have a good life with someone who loves them, and that's not always a guarantee for kids who get fostered or adopted, so just. Please, Mr. Stark,” she begged. “Think about it. That's all I ask.”

Tony glanced between Mary's imploring, slightly tearful face, and Pepper's most intimidating “don't you dare refuse without thinking about it” face. He was _definitely_ on the verge of a nervous breakdown, because, _god_ , this woman was asking him to _raise a kid_ , how on earth could anyone think _he_ was qualified to do that without completely screwing the poor kid up? Look at how _he_ was raised, what made anyone think this kid's life would be any different?

But... Tony found himself nodding slowly.

“I'll think about it,” he promised.

\---

Turns out, “thinking about it” was the worst idea he'd ever had.

Tony drove himself home after meeting with Pepper and Mary, and he went straight to his lab to try to distract himself.

It didn't really work. His mind kept drifting to the phone number Mary had scribbled on a piece of hotel stationery from one of those tiny little notepads they left in hotel rooms for guests to write notes for the staff on. (Apparently she was staying in a Marriott.)

Tony had left the phone number on the counter upstairs deliberately, in the hope that he could forget about it for a while. At least until the next time he needed coffee. Or something... a lot stronger than coffee.

He didn't forget about it. He tried to work on something, anything to keep his hands and mind busy, but he kept getting distracted, and after the third time DUM-E doused him with a fire extinguisher for causing something to spark _slightly_ , he gave up and went upstairs to shower... and think.

He debated with himself for a good long while. One of his greatest fears was that he might become like his dad – Howard was angry, drunk all the time, and always pushing Tony away or yelling at him for something, whether Tony was actually at fault or not. What if he agreed to take the kid, and it turned out that he was exactly the same kind of parent Howard was?

On the other hand, Tony remembered that the only other option was putting the kid into the hands of Child Protective Services. Mary was right, there was no guarantee that any child that went through the system would end up in a happy home. Tony didn't know if he could deal with the guilt of knowing that he was letting an innocent little baby's fate be decided by the government.

What did the government know about happiness?

Probably even less than Tony.

Tony groaned and flopped face-first onto the couch. 

\---

Two days later, Tony forced himself to dial the number Mary gave him.

Before Mary can even finish saying “Hello?”, Tony is talking.

“I'll do it.”

Mary cleared her throat. “Sorry, who is this?”

“You know,” Tony said impatiently. “I'll. I'll do it, I'll. You know. Take the kid. When it's born. I, uh. I want him. Her. It. What is it?”

Mary chuckled breathlessly, like she wasn't sure if she was dreaming. “I'm not sure yet. But... you want to keep the baby?”

“Uh. Yeah. I think I said that? I said that, right?”

Mary chuckled again. “Yeah. You did. Thank you so much, Mr. Stark, I... thank you.”

Tony cleared his throat. “You're, uh, giving birth to my kid, call me Tony.”

Another huff of laughter. “All right. Thank you, Tony.”

The next things she said were muffled, like she had pulled the phone away from her ear. “Richard! He agreed!” She put the phone back to her ear. “Thank you, really, this means so much to us. And I'm _sure_ you won't regret it. I... thank you. I'll, um... See you later, I guess?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony said absently, already feeling a little bubble of anxiety welling up in his stomach because _oh, god, what did he just do_. “Let me know if I can, uh, pay for all the doctor stuff, I'd be happy to... do that.”

Mary was quiet for a moment. “Thank you,” she repeated. “Bye, Mr. Sta- Tony.”

“Bye, Mary.”

Mary hung up first, and Tony sat on his couch listening to the dial tone for a solid five minutes, until Pepper came into the room with her heels clicking, holding a clipboard and her planner in one hand, her pager in the other.

“Tony, Obadiah needs you to approve-” She cut herself off when she saw Tony, and put her things down on the coffee table to approach him. “Tony? Are you feeling ok?”

Tony slowly looked up at her. “I'm having a kid.”

Pepper's eyes widened in recognition. “You're keeping Mary's baby?” she gasped. “Tony, do you know what that's going to mean for you? For your life, for your _company_ , for-”

“Trust me, Pep, I haven't thought about much else for the last two days,” Tony said wearily.

“Do you think you're _ready_ for something like this? Children are a _big_ responsibility. A lifelong commitment.” Pepper's voice was tentative, like she wasn't sure how Tony would react if he thought she was being contradicting.

Tony turned his gaze on her. “I don't want to be Howard,” he started slowly. “And, no, I'm probably not ready, but I also don't think I could live with myself if that baby had a horrible life because I refused to do the right thing.”

Pepper's eyes softened, and she looked a little proud. “Ok, then,” she said gently. “I support your decision.”

“Thank you,” Tony said quietly. He glanced at the work stuff Pepper had brought with her. “Now, what did you come here for?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's coming into the world doing what he does best - scaring his father out of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kind of got away from me a little bit, but I didn't want to chop it in half. I hope you like it! The response to the first chapter blew my little sleep-deprived brain last night, and it blew me away again when I woke up to more! Thank you guys so much!
> 
> This part in particular is probably where Tony gets a little OOC, so I'm sorry about that, but I hope I did ok anyway.

Ten days into August, Tony was in the lab (again; when is he ever _not_ in the lab?). He was working on something for the military, as per usual, fiddling with a screwdriver in a very delicate area. DUM-E was... _trying_ to help, bless him, but he was endearingly useless.

It felt like any other day, to begin with. Of course, Tony's new “normal” now included having the kinds of thoughts soon-to-be parents often had niggling at the back of his mind, but he was getting better at not letting that hinder his lab mindset too much anymore.

Of course, life always had other plans, and around 10 in the morning (Tony had been up since 9 the previous morning), Pepper burst into his home lab entirely unannounced, looking as frazzled as Tony had ever seen her, startling Tony enough that his hand jerked violently and the part he was tinkering with sparked, then fell apart.

“Oh, damn it,” Tony grumbled, dropping the screwdriver and looking up at Pepper. “What did I do this time?”

Pepper took a moment to catch her breath (did she _run_? In _those heels_?), then fixed Tony with a meaningful look. “I just got a call from Richard Parker,” she said. “Mary is in labor _right now_.”

Tony swore his heart stopped for a few seconds.

“ _Now_?” he yelped, hands scrabbling at his workspace frantically, trying to wrap his head around what Pepper was saying. “No no no, she's not supposed to have that kid for another _month_. They're in _New York_ , how the hell-”

“Well, apparently someone forgot to tell the kid not to come yet,” Pepper said dryly. “We have to get you on a plane right now, Tony, come on.”

She ushered Tony out of the lab and up the stairs, talking the whole time.

“You're going to go upstairs and change into something more appropriate,” she said. “I will _not_ let you meet your child wearing grease-stained work clothes. And you'll have to pack a bag, of course, you'll be there for a few days at least, a few weeks at most-”

“Weeks?” Tony repeated, stopping dead.

Pepper turned to look at him with an air of resigned patience. “Premature babies usually need a little more intensive care than full-term babies, Tony, I know you know that.”

Tony _did_ know that, and when he realized that meant the baby might not be ok, he started panicking even more. Pepper ended up having to pack his suitcase for him, but fortunately she was good at it. She quickly and efficiently managed to fit an entire 5-10 day capsule wardrobe inside the smallest suitcase Tony owned that wasn't a carry-on bag, and after that she even squeezed his toiletries bag in there. Then, just for good measure, she picked out clothes for Tony to change into before leaving the house.

Tony was never going to be able to repack that properly, but he didn't have much time to worry about it.

Tony changed into the clothes Pepper threw at him and met her in the living room when he was done. “Happy's waiting outside to drive you to the airport, and the private jet will be ready to take off as soon as we get there.” Pepper had assumed her role of “I have to run Tony's life because sometimes he can't do it himself”, and in his haze of pre-parental panic, Tony appreciated it more than he was willing to admit.

“I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you haven't bought any baby stuff, yet?” Pepper asked while Tony shrugged into the jacket she gave him and attempted to fix his hair in the reflection of the blank TV screen. (lost cause). He gave her a blank look and she rolled her eyes. “Of course you haven't. We'll have to do a little shopping in the city, after the baby is born. Let's go, Happy is going to start honking any minute now, and nobody wants that.”

Tony followed her outside, feeling the need to defend himself. “I thought I had a month to buy stuff, ok, you can't possibly blame me, it's the kid's fault for coming early.”

Pepper didn't bother with a response.

\---

Tony fidgeted for the entire plane ride. He was itching to utilize the mini bar he knew was always stocked, but he didn't think drinking before going to the hospital to meet his kid - his _kid_ , _god_ – was a very good idea.

Instead he had to remain completely sober, and he didn't have anything to pass the time with, which left him pretty much alone with his thoughts, and that was never fun.

His train of thought started with the usual _I am going to be a horrible father_ , but then he remembered exactly _how early_ this kid had decided to make an appearance, which caused the thought train to take a sudden dive off a bridge into the gaping chasm of _every single thing that could possibly go wrong with his baby's premature birth_ , which was a whole new world of dark thoughts that he had a good four hours to explore and nothing to distract himself from them with.

When the plane landed in New York, the first thing Pepper did was call Richard Parker, Mary's fiancee, for a baby update while they walked down to the parking lot to get the company car that Happy had ordered to be there.

Pepper got off the phone and repeated Richard's report to Tony. “Mary's still in labor, and it looks like you still have time to get to the hospital before the baby's born. There are no complications so far, and the baby was perfectly healthy during the last doctor's appointment they went to, so the doctors are optimistic that everything will be fine.”

Optimistic didn't always mean _totally right_ , but Tony thought if Pepper had to order him to stop hyperventilating one more time, they might _both_ lose their minds, so he did his best to hold on to the optimism. And breathe.

They found the car that the New York branch of SI had left for them. Happy drove again, because nobody, not even Tony, trusted Tony not to get into a car accident if he tried to drive at that moment.

“Take Tony to the hospital first, Happy,” Pepper said. “Then I need to do a little grocery shopping so Tony can stay at the penthouse. We'll go baby shopping over the next few days.”

“You got it,” Happy said.

Tony was pretty sure he was about to “go baby shopping” _right now_ , if you catch his drift, but he didn't say it to Pepper for fear of exasperating her.

“Also,” Pepper said, in a voice that made Tony turn to look at her, “it might interest you to know that you're having a boy.”

Tony had to reboot after that.

\---

The hospital staff were understandably stunned to see Tony Stark ripping through the waiting area to the front desk, demanding to know what room Mary Fitzpatrick was having his baby in. Tony was sure it was probably more than a little alarming. The nurse at the desk stammered a room number, and Tony took off to find it.

With Pepper on her way to the store so that she could make sure Tony's penthouse was actually livable, it took Tony a bit longer than he wanted to admit to find the room, especially since he was too panicked to think of asking for directions.

He did find it, finally, and then he had a face-off with the door. He felt like it was mocking him.

“Oh, you're the 'dad', huh? Poor kid,” it seemed to say.

Tony didn't disagree with it. Partly because it was a door and he would have looked _slightly_ insane. Partly because he figured it was probably right.

Tony's mind was reeling. He had to reach out and put a hand flat against the wall to steady himself as he took a few deep breaths.

A passing nurse smiled at him warmly, like she knew what he was going through.

“New dad, huh?” she asked. Tony nodded minutely. “You're not the first one I've seen out here today,” she said. “Don't worry, everything will be fine. Did you want to go in and be with your wife?”

Clearly this woman had no idea who Tony was. She must live under a rock. That's fine. It was sort of comforting right now.

Tony shifted his weight. “Uh, no, I'm not the husband,” he said awkwardly. “Just the father.”

The nurse blinked a few times. Then she smiled again. “Well, I'm sure you can go in anyway,” she said cheerfully. Maybe a little too cheerfully. Tony didn't blame her; it was weird.

Tony glanced between her and the door. Would it be pointless to run away now?

Yes. Very pointless.

“Would you mind telling me, like, a positive premature baby story?” Tony muttered, feeling a little stupid. “Forums love telling the bad ones.”

The nurse smiled at him, somewhere between sympathy and understanding. “My son was a preemie,” she told him. “He was only in the NICU for a week, just so they could monitor his breathing and make sure he knew how to suck. He's absolutely fine. And there are plenty of babies just like him.”

Tony let out a breath, which he had subconsciously known he was holding, but still surprised him a little bit, anyway. “Thank you,” he said.

“You're welcome,” she replied, still smiling. “Now, I have to get back to work, and _you_ have to go meet the new love of your life, so I would suggest we both get a move on, wouldn't you?”

Tony nodded again, and turned back to the door. It didn't seem to be mocking him quite as much anymore. He took a steeling breath, then knocked before easing the door open and slipping inside.

He closed the door behind him, picking up something one of the nurses was saying. He turned around to see a nurse, possibly a midwife, petting Mary's hair and letting her squeeze the life out of her hand. Richard stood on Mary's other side, doing his best to coach her breathing.

The nurse (midwife, whatever) said, “You're going to start pushing next time, ok honey? Don't worry, we're right here, you'll do just fine.”

“Ok,” Mary panted, her gaze shifting to where Tony stood in the doorway, feeling utterly useless. “Tony!” she said, smiling. “You made it.”

“Just in time,” Richard added. Despite probably still being at least a little miffed at Tony for getting his fiancee pregnant, he smiled too and gestured behind him. “There's a chair here if you want to sit.”

Tony didn't see how there was anything else for him to do, so he nodded and picked his way around the edge of the room (determinedly looking anywhere but... _there_ ) to sit in the crappy recliner Richard pointed to.

True to the midwife's word, the doctor had Mary start pushing on her next contraction, and the atmosphere in the room went from laser-focused to _intense_. After a stretch of time that felt like hours and seconds simultaneously, the feeble cries of a brand new baby being evicted too soon filled the room.

“Jeanie, grab the oxygen and bring the bassinet over here,” the doctor ordered. “We'll let Mom hold him for a minute, but we have to get him down to NICU for a checkup fast. One more push, Mary, and he's out of there.”

“Tony, come here,” Mary said, clearly exhausted, but reaching an arm out for Tony, inviting him to come closer.

Tony moved to stand next to Richard at Mary's side. On the next contraction, the nurses coached Mary through “one last big push”, while Tony looked up at the ceiling.

“There he is,” the doctor said, which Tony's garbage brain took to mean “it's safe to look now, and you better do so if you want to get a look at this kid before we hook him up to so many machines it'll be hard to tell he's a human”. So Tony looked.

The baby was wrinkly, a little purple, and clearly _very_ upset, if the way he was still whining and trying to scream was any indication. And _tiny_. The smallest human Tony had ever seen, hands down.

Tony's chest flooded with a warm fuzzy feeling the longer he looked.

The doctor moved to offer Mary the baby, but she pointed to Tony.

“All his,” she said through heavy breaths, leaning back against the pillows. “I was just the incubator.”

The nurses in the room chuckled, and the doctor holding the baby turned to Tony.

Tony swallowed, but made no protests when the doctor handed him the (very loosely) blanket-wrapped infant with a murmur of “support his head – there you go”.

If he wasn't looking right at it, Tony would barely have been able to tell he was holding anything at all. The baby was absolutely _tiny_ , couldn't have been much more than five pounds. Tony was pretty sure that _somewhere_ in America, maybe even somewhere in New York, there was a place that sold burgers bigger than this kid.

Tony thought that maybe giant burgers were kind of a weird thing to be thinking about while he was meeting his kid – _his kid_ , ugh, weird – for the first time, so he snapped himself out of it and took a better look at the tiny face peeking out from the blanket folds.

Tony had never understood why people always cooed over wrinkly little raisin babies and called them “adorable” and “perfect”. Newborns were just. Wrinkly little raisin babies. At least, they seemed that way to Tony.

Until today.

The baby in Tony's arms was honestly the most perfect little thing he had ever seen. Yeah, currently still kind of gunky from the lack of bath, but perfect nonetheless. He barely had any hair at all, but what was there looked fuzzy, and like it would be softer than a feather pillow if Tony were to touch it. (He wasn't going to touch it yet, though, it was kind of gross.) He had that little upturned button nose that all babies seemed to have, but it also looked a little bit like it could resemble Mary's at some point in the future.

Tony had never believed in love at first sight before, but he was starting to.

Tony held the baby for a few more minutes, committing the little sleepy snuffling noises to memory. He may or may not have gotten a little choked up and glassy-eyed, but when Mary and Richard pointed it out, he refused to admit it.

“We'll have to do a standard preterm checkup before we can hand him over,” the doctor said apologetically, while a nurse gently took the baby back and passed him off to another nurse waiting nearby with the oxygen the doctor had asked for. “But if I had to guess, I'd say your baby is one of the healthiest preemies I've seen all year.”

Mary and Tony both let out matching breaths of relief, though Tony's was much quieter.

“Good,” Mary said. “Thank you.”

The nurses and doctors cleared out, leaving just a couple behind to clean up while the rest whisked the baby away.

Tony's knees suddenly felt like Jell-O, and he staggered back to the recliner to sit down heavily.

Mary leaned back into the pillows propping her up, turning her head to look at Tony. “What do you think?” As an obviously teasing afterthought, she added, “ _Dad_.”

Tony blanched. “Oh god.”

Mary and Richard both laughed at him.

\---

After Tony had recovered from his most recent bout of panic, Mary had another question for him.

“So, Tony. Baby needs a name.”

Tony's brain scrambled for a minute, but fortunately when he got at least a loose grip on his sanity he remembered that names had actually been something he found himself thinking about a lot. This kid was going to be a Stark, he needed a solid name.

“I have a few ideas,” Tony started slowly.

“Well, let's hear them!” Mary said. Obviously she had recovered from pushing an entire human being out of her enough to have a conversation, because she looked as animated as anyone could expect a woman who had just given birth to be.

Tony went over the three names he had gotten the options narrowed down to.

There was Parker, which would be sort of a nod to Richard and Mary, who were getting married soon. (According to Mary, “as soon as I can fit into the dress again”.) Even though they had chosen not to be part of the baby's life, Tony thought it could be nice to remember them.

Then there was Edwin, after his beloved old butler. That could get a little weird because he also named JARVIS after that same butler, but it was still one of Tony's favorite choices.

Then there was Peter. There was no particular reason behind the name, Tony just liked it.

Mary, and even Richard, looked touched at the thought of the baby being named for them.

“That's sweet, Tony, but you know... I've never really seen 'Parker' as a _first_ name,” Mary pointed out. “And... Edwin? Not to disrespect your name-picking skills, but it's a little dated, don't you think?”

Tony shrugged. “Probably.” He didn't mention JARVIS.

“Peter is a good name,” Richard offered. “But you obviously don't have to listen to me.”

“Nah, don't be ridiculous.” Tony waved him off. “You're the head of R&D over here for a reason. You're absolutely right.” He paused for dramatic effect. “Peter Stark, then,” he announced. “Parker for a middle name.” His tone left no room for objection, but nobody looked inclined to make one anyway. “It's good, it rolls, it's a solid name.”

“Perfect,” Mary said with a smile.

“A solid name,” Richard echoed. He hadn't been particularly enthusiastic about this kid's existence, and nobody expected him to be, but Tony was glad that he at least wasn't mad about it.

\---

Peter's stay in the NICU was predicted to be mercifully short by most of the doctors and nurses Tony asked. They all gave it a week, tops, just like the nurse Tony had talked to in the hall said.

Tony was allowed to visit the NICU later in the day, after the birth certificate had been filled out and Peter had been cleaned up and worked on for a while to get his breathing to a place the doctors were more comfortable with. Apparently Tony had looked like he was having a heart attack when the nurse mentioned that, because she was quick to reassure him.

“He's not having a ton of trouble, or anything, this is just standard procedure for preterm babies,” she explained. “There's a whole lot of medical jumble I could rattle off to you, but long story short, he wasn't a fan of the nasal CPAP so instead of that he needs a cannula for a few days. It's totally normal for little guys like him. He'll be hooked up to that when you go in, so don't be alarmed by it. It looks scarier than it is.”

Tony did his best to keep that in mind, but his heart still clenched uncomfortably when he got close enough to Peter's bassinet to see it, as well as the setup they had to keep him warm. It wasn't a full-on incubator, and Tony didn't know the name for it, but it reminded him vaguely of the big heat lamps people with pet snakes and various other reptiles own.

(He had to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying that.)

One of the NICU nurses pulled up a chair for Tony so that he could sit next to the bassinet. He thanked her as she walked away, then lowered himself into the chair and peered into the bassinet at his son.

Peter was nice and clean now, his skin that newborn shade of pink where it wasn't still a little purple from being squeezed out of... you know. A very small birthing canal. The nurses had put a diaper on him that was sized for full term newborns (sheepishly admitting that someone was on a supply run for smaller ones), which considering he was about five and a half pounds looked almost comically large, and a little blue beanie to keep his bald head warm. His scrunched legs were propped up on a pillow-type thing with tiny green and blue bears all over it.

Probably the most interesting difference between now and when Tony had held Peter for the first time a few hours ago was that Peter's eyes were open now, although he was still making snuffling noises around the cannula taped to his face.

Tony didn't really think newborns were capable of focusing their eyes on much, but Peter seemed to be looking very intently at the heat lamp thing (actually... he was kind of squinting, almost like he was annoyed by the light of it). Eventually he seemed to get bored of that, or maybe it was just too bright, and his eyes flicked to the wall directly across from him. It wasn't a very interesting wall. But Peter didn't know that.

Tony watched Peter quietly for a minute, noting with interest that from what he could tell, the baby's eyes seemed to match his own almost perfectly. Then Peter started fidgeting, and the snuffling noises quickly turned into fussing.

A nurse was on standby within seconds, but after she checked and decided that Peter's fussing didn't have any particularly negative connotations, she stood back to keep a close watch from a short distance.

Peter made a tiny crying noise, like he was testing the waters (and his lung capacity). Tony glanced at the nurse nervously.

She smiled. “We fed him, he's clean, and he's breathing just fine,” she promised. “He might just be lonely. You could try talking to him.”

Tony turned his attention back to the fussy baby he was going to be entirely responsible for once he was released from the hospital. (That was still really weird, and a little stressful, to think about.) He was conscious of the nurse watching him, but he gave talking a try anyway.

“Peter,” he said softly. “You're ok.” He hoped he at least _sounded_ soothing, because he honestly had no idea what to say to a baby who lacked the word comprehension to understand him.

Tony watched in fascination as Peter kicked up the fussing a notch and stuck his lower lip out in a proper, full-blown _pout_. He hadn't been aware that babies could do that. It was probably a subconscious thing, though. And unexpectedly adorable.

“You can touch him if you want,” the nurse whispered. “Babies often seek physical contact, they find it comforting, just like most grown people.”

Tony hesitated, eyeing the tube in Peter's nose with some apprehension, but he had been told that despite looking cumbersome it didn't actually get in the way very much. He reached into the bassinet and stroked a finger gently against the back of Peter's tiny hand, taking note of how soft it felt under his own skin, which was a little rough from the hands-on work he did in his workshop every day.

“Peter,” Tony said again, keeping up the slow circles he was rubbing into Peter's hand. “Hey, little guy.”

Peter's fussing paused for a few short seconds, then it resumed again. The nurse smiled encouragingly, however.

“That looked like a reaction, to me,” she whispered.

Tony kept up a steady, slightly babbling stream of variations of what he had already said, as well as the rubbing on Peter's hand. After a minute, Peter's little fussing noises started slowly turning into coos, and he blinked a few times, looking around the room, until his eyes landed on Tony.

Again, Tony was positive that his face wasn't much more than a colorful blur in Peter's vision, but Peter still looked at him intently. The coos started getting just a little bit more frequent.

Tony knew there was a dopey smile sneaking it's way onto his face, but he didn't think it was possible to turn it off, and he was even less convinced that he'd be able to even if it was. At least not while he was still looking at Peter. And he was currently making no plans to look away.

“Hey there, Petey-Pie,” Tony said, lowering his voice even further until he was almost whispering. The nickname came seemingly out of nowhere, but Tony found that he kind of liked it. (Oh, god, he was gonna be one of _those_ parents, wasn't he?) He thought back to what the nurse in the hall had said when he first arrived. “I guess you're the new love of my life, huh?”

Peter's response was to blink his big brown eyes twice, then yawn, his tiny mouth opening wide and his eyes squeezing shut. It was the cutest thing Tony had ever seen. He had to stop himself from audibly saying “aw”.

“Yeah,” Tony continued, moving his hand up to stroke the soft skin of Peter's cheek. “You are.”

Peter cooed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to remind you, this is the first installment of a series, so if you like my writing I would suggest you keep an eye on that in the future.
> 
> Also, once again, I got my inspiration from that mamalaz gifset on Tumblr that I linked to before. It's just... my favorite thing? I love it?
> 
> You can find where I reblog all the Good Marvel Content on my Tumblr - riseuplikeglitterandgold.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work on Ao3, and I'd love some feedback.
> 
> I never really thought I'd ever write fanfic, but I see and reblog so many Iron Dad posts every day that the idea for this kind of slammed into me like a 16-wheeler on a freeway in Utah and I had to.
> 
> The second chapter of this will probably be up tomorrow, because it's already written, and this is the first installment of a series, so I hope at least one person likes this, because there will be more.


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